Two stories from today that make the upcoming Papal Conclave only that much more interesting:

Cardinal Dolan of NYC was deposed for 3 hours by lawyers in Milwaukee, Dolan's previous post, asking him questions about how quickly he responded to abuse accusations. My guess is, not quickly enough. So he just got his ass chapped before scurrying off to Rome: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/nyregi...se-scandal.html

Then, the AP is doing follow up reporting that the Washington Post broke on this side of the Atlantic last week on the Pope's Butler document scandal, aka Vatileaks. This means that this story will now run in most print newspapers all across the nation and the world, meaning a new focus on the inner workings of the dysfunctional Curia, most notably in the tug-of-war between Cardinals Sodano and Bertone: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/vatican-feuds-fiefdoms-betrayals-await-next-pope

Here's the next shoe to drop. Accusations of "blackmail" amongst clergy in the Vatican who were "united by sexual orientation."

From the Guardian:

In an apparent quotation from the report, La Repubblica said some Vatican officials had been subject to "external influence" from laymen with whom they had links of a "worldly nature". The paper said this was a clear reference to blackmail.

It quoted a source "very close to those who wrote [the cardinal's report]" as saying: "Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments."

The seventh enjoins against theft. The sixth forbids adultery, but is linked in Catholic doctrine to the proscribing of homosexual acts.

Another interesting resignation: Cardinal O'Brien, the top-ranked Catholic in the UK, just resigned this morning after allegations of inappropriate behavior with younger priests, not boys, but still inappropriate.

Update: Turns out it appears that Ratzinger might have cut him loose rather than O'Brien resigning on his own:

"The Cardinal had already presented last November his resignation in view of his 75th birthday on 17 March 2013, and it was accepted by the Holy Father with the formula 'nunc pro tunc' (now for later). Given the imminent Vacant See, the Holy Father has now decided to accept the said resignation definitively."

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